1My spirit is broken; I am ready to give up. My life is almost gone; the grave is waiting for me. 2People stand around me and laugh at me. I watch them as they tease and insult me. 3“God, show me that you really support me. No other person will support me. 4You have closed my friends’ minds and they don’t understand. Please don’t let them win. 5You know what people say, 'A man neglects his own children to help his friends.’ But my friends have turned against me. 6God has made my name a bad word to everyone. People spit in my face. 7My eyes have become almost blind because I am very sad and in great pain. My whole body has become very thin, like a shadow. 8Good people are upset about this. Innocent people are upset at people that don’t care about God. 9But good people continue to live right. Innocent people will become stronger. 10“But come on, all of you, try to show me that it is all my fault. None of you are wise. 11My life is passing away. My plans are destroyed. My hope is gone. 12But my friends are all mixed up. They think night is day. They think darkness drives away the light. 13“I might hope for the grave to be my new home. I might hope to make my bed in the dark grave. 14I might say to the grave, 'You are my father,’ and to the worms, 'My mother,’ or 'My sister.’ 15But if that is my only hope then I have no hope at all. If that is my only hope then people have found me no hope at all. 16˻Will my hope die with me?˼ Will it also go down to the place of death? Will we go down into the dirt together?”